Moscow Asks Bern to Explain Gov't Plane's Tracking by Swiss Fighter Jets

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Friday, military aircraft with the Swiss insignia have escorted the plane with the Russian delegation, including journalists and Alexander Fomin, the director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, heading for the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Peru.

"We have expressed perplexity and asked the Swiss to provide explanations over the incident with Russia's government plane in the [Swiss] Confederation's airspace," the embassy posted in its Twitter account.

Three Swiss fighter planes flew close to the aircraft carrying Russian journalists.

The captain of the escorted Russian aircraft asserted that accompanying Russian aircraft has become routine.

The jets pulled away when the Russian plane reached the Swiss border.

Western fighter jets regularly chase Russian war planes in international airspace. Accompanying Russian passenger aircraft, however, is something new.